Chapter 532: The Sage of Six Paths Makes His Move
Looking at the partially transformed Naruto entering the field and instantly changing the tide, Ishiro wasn't flustered. Instead, he was itching to try something.
He scanned the area with his Mind's Eye, and perceiving no warning from the Sage of Six Paths, his courage grew slightly.
The next second, Ishiro's hands formed a cross shape, and a massive blue beam shot directly toward Kakashi, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Enma.
The three were no strangers to this hand sign, exclaiming in shock, "Light Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
The two men and the monkey immediately scattered, moving far away from Ishiro.
Boom!
After a massive flash of blue light and a huge explosion, Ishiro used the opportunity to break free from his engagement with the three. He then rushed toward the battlefield with Naruto and the three Susanoo.
As he flew, he gathered an enormous mass of Porcelain Release. In an instant, a sky-blotting wave of porcelain mud rushed toward the battle.
Kakashi and Hiruzen were both stunned, knowing this was bad. They immediately formed seals, simultaneously preparing to cast high-level, large-scale ninjutsu.
On the other side, Might Guy naturally saw the change in the battle. He roared, "Seventh Gate, Gate of Shock, Open!!!"
As his voice fell, a massive amount of blue steam erupted from his body.
This time, Guy's Seventh Gate opening wasn't unstable like it had been in the Land of Water. He exploded with a powerful aura, and the debris around him was blown away by this pressure, kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Shinya Matsutani-kun was alarmed. It's here. He immediately signaled Ishiro to pull him further away from Might Guy. At the same time, Shinya-kun quickly formed seals, preparing to cast a defensive ninjutsu to block him.
But Might Guy's target this time wasn't Shinya-kun. After opening the Seventh Gate, he charged straight for the Susanoo battlefield without the slightest delay.
There, due to Naruto's sudden intrusion, Uchiha Izumi's Susanoo had been knocked to the ground. If not for her vast dōjutsu reserves, she might not even be able to maintain the Susanoo.
But under Naruto's relentless attacks, Izumi's Susanoo couldn't even get back up.
Fortunately, Naruto had almost no combat experience and had no idea how to attack Uchiha Izumi effectively.
Seeing this, Sōkai, who was nearby, grew anxious. But he was being completely suppressed by Itachi Uchiha and couldn't break free.
Sōkai wildly swung his Susanoo's arms, trying to move closer to Uchiha Izumi.
But his rashness gave Itachi an opening. Itachi's red Susanoo punched Sōkai's Susanoo in the head. Sōkai's Susanoo staggered a few steps, also nearly falling.
At this very moment, Might Guy arrived. His fully powered speed was even faster than Ishiro's Porcelain Release, allowing him to reach this battlefield before Ishiro, Kakashi, or the others.
Unlike the inexperienced Naruto, Guy didn't bother with the still-standing Sōkai. Instead, he aimed his Hirudora at Uchiha Izumi's defenseless Susanoo.
Might Guy's aim was perfect, his power control precise. After the single blow, cracks immediately appeared on Uchiha Izumi's Susanoo.
The next second, with a bang, Uchiha Izumi's Susanoo shattered and disappeared. Uchiha Izumi herself cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground.
This scene registered in Sōkai's eyes, and he immediately let out a crazed roar: "Izumi-san!"
Then, the skeletal-form Susanoo on his body miraculously began to grow sinew and flesh. At the same time, a gourd-shaped object appeared in his Susanoo's right hand.
Ishiro, who had just arrived nearby and was extending his hand, paused for a moment.
Only after Sōkai's state stabilized did Ishiro call out softly, "Banshō Ten'in."
Uchiha Izumi, exposed after her Susanoo was destroyed, was pulled to Ishiro's side.
She gasped for air, clutching her eyes, and asked Ishiro, "Lord Tsuchikage, what happened to Sōkai?"
Ishiro thought for a moment and said, "You were just in danger. His emotions became unstable, his dōjutsu increased, and he incidentally unlocked the second form of his Susanoo."
Izumi, calming down, asked again, "Lord Tsuchikage, what is that gourd in Sōkai's hand?"
Ishiro glanced at the spirit weapon—obtained at the same time as the Yata Mirror he had given to Neji—and said, "That is the Sword of Totsuka."
As Ishiro spoke, his mind was somewhat elsewhere. The way Sōkai's dōjutsu had just surged felt peculiar. After a moment of thought, Ishiro's eyes lit up. Perhaps he has crossed the threshold into the Kage level.
Having figured this out, Ishiro turned his gaze to Naruto and Might Guy.
Naruto was still stunned by the disappearance of Uchiha Izumi's massive Susanoo. Might Guy, however, took a deep breath and charged at Sōkai once more.
"Hm? He still has strength left after using Hirudora? Is it because he controlled his power when he attacked Uchiha Izumi?" Ishiro was inwardly surprised.
Might Guy was able to freely control his power in the Gate of Shock, precisely managing his strength so as not to waste excess chakra and stamina in breaking Izumi's Susanoo. Might Guy was demonstrating much greater strength than in the original story.
Watching Guy charge Sōkai, Ishiro wasn't concerned. Sōkai's second-form Susanoo should be able to hold on for a while.
Ishiro continued to control the sky-full of porcelain mud, sending it to envelop Naruto.
At that moment, Kakashi, the furthest away, yelled to Might Guy, "Guy, forget everything else! Get Naruto out of there!"
Guy, mid-charge, skidded to a halt. He was about to turn when he suddenly heard Itachi Uchiha shout, "Guy-senpai, be careful of that gourd! That is the Sword of Totsuka!"
Itachi had seen descriptions of the Sword of Totsuka in his clan's archives, so he recognized it on sight. Itachi had even dreamed of following in his ancestor's footsteps to find the Sword of Totsuka and the Yata Mirror, but he never expected the sword to already be in Sōkai's hands.
Hearing this, Might Guy abandoned the thought of saving Naruto and immediately dodged to the side, evading the attack from Sōkai's sword.
But Sōkai, at this moment, seemed to have figured things out. He ignored Itachi and focused all his power on tying down Might Guy, trying to buy time for Ishiro to capture Naruto.
Naruto, alerted by Kakashi's shout and seeing the approaching porcelain mud, quickly turned and fled. In his partial Tailed Beast state, his speed was immense, faster than the mud's advance, and he gradually increased the distance between them.
But just then, Naruto, who was running for his life, once again heard the voice of Kakashi, his "Hokage-ojisan."
"Naruto, don't run forward! Watch above you!"
Although Naruto didn't know what was above him, he cleverly stopped and subconsciously retreated a short distance.
The next moment, a blue beam of light flashed in front of him, followed by a deafening explosion.
Naruto was staggered by the shockwave of the explosion. He gulped. That was close.
But when the explosion cleared and he looked up again, he found he was completely surrounded by porcelain mud.
Just as Naruto was about to charge forward, he heard Kakashi shout again, "Naruto, charge backward!"
Naruto didn't stop to think why. He turned and slammed into the mud wall that was closing in from behind.
At that exact moment, the attacks that Kakashi and Hiruzen had been preparing finally arrived. Their attacks struck the back of the porcelain mud enclosure, blasting a huge gap in it.
Naruto's spirits lifted at the sight, and he was about to dash through the opening.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed that big villain, the Tsuchikage, extending a hand directly toward him.
Is he about to use a jutsu? Naruto wondered, but his feet didn't stop. With a few leaps, he charged out of the opening.
Ishiro's mouth twitched. His intended S-rank, seal-less Shinra Tensei, meant to push Naruto back into the mud, had failed!
Forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart, Ishiro knew: the Sage of Six Paths had interfered again.
Naruto, having escaped the encirclement, was scooped up by a very, very long staff.
Ishiro didn't dare to make another move on Naruto. He looked over at Sōkai's fight.
Sōkai was still entangled with Might Guy.
However, Sōkai's second-form Susanoo was now covered in cracks, clearly on the verge of collapsing.
Fortunately, Shinya-kun was in the air, constantly supporting him with Sage Art. Shinya-kun's large-scale jutsu temporarily restricted the movements of Itachi's Susanoo.
Ishiro waved his hand, and the porcelain mud that had originally surrounded Naruto immediately surged toward Might Guy.
Seeing this, Might Guy let out a sigh of regret. He quickly withdrew from his fight with Sōkai and moved to Itachi's side.
The moment Guy left, Sōkai could no longer hold on. His second-form Susanoo immediately regressed and then dispersed completely.
As soon as the Susanoo vanished, Sōkai clutched his eyes in agony and collapsed.
The next moment, a large amount of porcelain mud enveloped him.
Ishiro pulled Sōkai back to his side while simultaneously applying a seal around his eyes from a distance.
By the time Sōkai reached Ishiro, his pain had subsided. After panting heavily for a moment, he said to Uchiha Izumi, "I'm sorry, Izumi-san. I couldn't defeat that Might Guy and get revenge for you."
Ishiro blinked, thinking to himself, "So you were fighting so desperately to get revenge for your crush? And here I was, thinking you'd finally smartened up and knew to buy time for me to capture Naruto. Turns out, Sōkai, you're still the same old Sōkai. You haven't changed a bit."
Uchiha Izumi ignored Sōkai's words and quickly moved to check his eyes.
Her own dōjutsu had recovered somewhat in this short time. While she was in no condition to fight, the intense pain from earlier had subsided. Sōkai's eyes, however, had not yet calmed down and were still slowly bleeding. If not for Ishiro's seal, Sōkai might not even be able to speak.
Ishiro had no desire to watch this young couple being affectionate. He moved Shinya-kun to his side and looked over at the opposing team.
The situation on the other side was no better. Might Guy had exited the Seventh Gate and was being held up by Kakashi to keep from collapsing.
Naruto was being held in a princess carry by Hiruzen Sarutobi, his breathing faint.
Itachi Uchiha was kneeling on the ground, clutching his eyes, with no one paying him any attention.
Just as Ishiro was about to say something to end the battle gracefully, he suddenly sensed the Yin Release aura on the kneeling Itachi spike without warning.
A vein on Ishiro's forehead pulsed, nearly rivaling a Hyūga activating their Byakugan.
Without a second word, Ishiro grabbed the three of them and turned, flying straight back to the Iwa army camp.
"The Sage of Six Paths! It has to be him! He's giving Itachi a power-up!" As he fled, Ishiro was both furious and panicked. The Sage of Six Paths had already interfered twice today; Ishiro didn't dare risk it.
Sōkai and Uchiha Izumi were busy comforting each other, acting sickeningly sweet. Shinya-kun, however, gave Ishiro a strange look. Still in Sage Mode, his perception was sharp, and he had detected the abnormal fluctuation in Ishiro's mind. He even identified the emotion: it was fear.
Shinya-kun didn't understand why Ishiro would feel such an emotion. It wasn't like Ishiro himself was in any danger. But Shinya-kun recalled the private conversation Ishiro had with Ōnoki before the battle, and he wisely chose not to ask.
After this battle, both the Iwa and Konoha armies recalled their forces. Even the squads that had been sent out for small-scale operations were called back to their respective camps.
But Ishiro wasn't finished. He summoned Akino Atsumi and said, "Akino, first, send Sōkai and Izumi back to the village. Then, bring Captain Kitsuchi here."
He quickly corrected himself, "Right, your chakra is too low. Just send Sōkai and Izumi to the nearest branch, and they can use the teleportation array there to return to the village.
"After Captain Kitsuchi arrives, I need you to teleport me to Ikura's location."
The battle with Konoha was over, but Ishiro still wanted to intervene in the great battle at sea.
He couldn't just ignore the safety of the main army camp. With Sōkai and Uchiha Izumi in no condition to fight, Ishiro chose to swap them with Kitsuchi.
The village was basically safe, but the camp here was in a direct standoff with the Konoha army. Leaving the fully-fit Kitsuchi and Shinya-kun, who hadn't expended much chakra in this last fight, would put his mind at ease.
Akino Atsumi nodded, quickly swapping Sōkai and Izumi with Kitsuchi. Then, she directly teleported Ishiro to the maritime battlefield.
...
Out on the open sea, the battle had long since entered a white-hot stage.
Ōnoki and the Fourth Raikage had gotten serious, their fight gradually moving far away from the others.
Back at the clay bird, a squad of flying Kumo ninja charged at them in a suicide rush. Deidara hastily controlled the clay bird to swerve.
Because of the timely maneuver, they avoided a direct collision. But as the two groups passed each other, the flying Kumo squad suddenly unleashed over a dozen B-rank ninjutsu.
"Lightning Release: Blue Light Shock!"
The destructive power of this wave of lightning jutsu wasn't high, but it came with numerous secondary effects. First, the blinding blue light restricted the vision of Deidara's group. Next, the stray electrical currents flashing everywhere limited their possible escape routes. And if hit, one would suffer a strong paralytic effect.
Not daring to be careless, Han immediately communicated with Kokuō, the Five-Tails inside him.
A red chakra wall instantly formed in front of them. The Five-Tails's chakra directly blocked the wave of lightning.
It was a close call, but after this interference, the pressure they had just managed to build on the Kumo army below vanished.
And so, Deidara, carrying Ikura, Han, and Rōshi, continued to harry the Kumo army from the air. The two sides had been entangled for some time.
But the Kumo ninja using flight tools to harass them were incredibly annoying. Their presence severely limited the four Kage-level shinobi's performance.
Once again, a squad of flying Kumo ninja charged toward them.
This time, however, Deidara didn't dodge. He laughed at the approaching Kumo ninja, formed a hand seal, and shouted, "Katsu!"
No explosion followed his shout.
But the approaching Kumo ninja simply disintegrated one by one, turning into dust.
This was the work of Deidara's recently developed C4 explosion.
The C4 bomb appeared to be a dud, but it actually released countless microscopic bombs.
These bombs were invisible to the naked eye. The Kumo ninja died without even knowing the danger had arrived.
The other flying Kumo ninja who had been about to approach immediately veered off, terrified by Deidara's attack. More than a dozen of their comrades had died inexplicably, and in such a bizarre fashion.
They looked at each other, but no one had an answer.
Fortunately, their commander soon told them what had happened.
"Everyone, don't panic. That Deidara just used an extremely fine-particle explosive clay."
"Those explosives are invisible to the naked eye, but the sensory team can detect them."
"Be more careful with your next attacks. The sensory team will be on high alert for this type of explosive clay."
Hearing the commander's analysis, the Kumo ninja in the air breathed a sigh of relief. The unknown is what's most terrifying. Now that they understood the principle, they just needed to be more careful.
In the following exchanges, the flying Kumo ninja still harassed Deidara's group from time to time, but fearing the C4, their attack frequency dropped significantly.
This allowed Deidara and the others to free up their hands and deal with the Kumo army on the sea below.
In a flash, the tables turned, and the initiative fell into Iwa's hands.
In the Kumo command center, the commander's expression was grim. He listened to the sensory ninja's reports, mentally weighing the pros and cons.
A moment later, he grit his teeth and said, "Notify Killer B. Prepare to use the Chakra Cannon."
An aide beside him was stunned. "Sir, if we use the Chakra Cannon now, we'll lose our chance to use it against the main Iwa army."
"Besides, the Chakra Cannon isn't very effective against Kage-level shinobi."
The commander sighed. "We have no choice. Iwa sent five Kage-level shinobi to attack us. If we could hold them off and maintain an advantage, it'd be one thing."
"As long as Iwa couldn't hold out and called their main army over, we'd have a chance to cripple them with the Chakra Cannon."
"But that's impossible now. Tell B. After the cannon is fired, regardless of the result, immediately notify the Raikage-sama to retreat."
The aide didn't carry out the order immediately, instead suggesting, "What if we notify the Second ANBU?"
The commander hesitated. "No. Our priority right now is to retreat safely."
"The Chakra Cannon is difficult to deploy. The situation is stable for now, but if chaos breaks out during the retreat, the cannon will be useless."
"We will need the Second ANBU to cover our withdrawal, so we cannot expose them now."
The man-kun reluctantly complied and went to arrange for the deployment of Kumo's secret weapon, the Chakra Cannon.
In the sky, with one less Kumo flight squadron and the remaining ones acting timidly, Ikura and the others began to increase their firepower against the forces on the surface.
Under their cover, Han even began preparing a Tailed Beast Ball.
The Kumo ninja below were terrified. They were on the open sea; how could they defend against a Tailed Beast Ball?
Fortunately, they had Killer B.
Killer B transformed directly into his full Eight-Tails form. The massive Bijuu immediately swung all of its tentacles at the clay bird.
Han had no choice but to abort the Tailed Beast Ball, joining the others to block the Eight-Tails's explosive attack.
Immediately after, the four of them focused all their attacks on the massive Bijuu. The Eight-Tails's enormous body couldn't possibly dodge their attacks.
Boom! Boom! Boom! A series of explosions rocked the Eight-Tails's body.
The Bijuu let out a pained roar.
At Killer B's suggestion, the Eight-Tails vanished, returning to B's body.
In this round of offense and defense, neither side achieved a decisive result, though the Eight-Tails was somewhat injured.
However, Kumo had used this opportunity to assemble the Chakra Cannon.
From Killer B's position in the water, an Eight-Tails tentacle extended, connecting to the newly assembled cannon in the distance.
The Chakra Cannon developed by Kumo was powerful, but it required a massive amount of chakra. The Eight-Tails was the perfect energy source.
The Chakra Cannon fired a beam of white light.
If time were slowed, one could see the light radiating from the attack itself. The beam shot rapidly toward the clay bird in the sky.
Han sensed it first. He immediately drew on the Five-Tails's chakra without reservation.
Rōshi, a moment slower, quickly did the same.
Ikura launched his fastest-casting ninjutsu at the beam.
Deidara wasn't idle either; he flew the clay bird higher while dropping dozens of small explosive clay sculptures.
Deidara and Ikura's hasty attacks weakened the beam's power, but failed to stop it completely. The beam ultimately slammed into the chakra shields of the two Jinchūriki.
Boom!
After the explosion, the four looked down at the fleet, still shaken.
Only now did they notice that a massive machine had appeared on one of the ships. A thick cannon barrel at its front was pointed directly at them.
At the same time, they noticed the Eight-Tails tentacle in the water.
It wasn't over. Under Killer B's control, the cannon fired several more shots into the air.
However, having been forewarned, the four handled the subsequent attacks with ease.
But under the cannon's assault, Deidara's group was pushed further and further away from the Kumo fleet.
Seizing this opportunity, the Kumo commander immediately gave the order to retreat.
Because Iwa's four Kage-level shinobi had been forced to a distance, the Kumo army's withdrawal was very orderly. They maintained their alert formations and evacuated.
Ikura watched the slowly retreating Kumo fleet, feeling frustrated. Iwa had concentrated its superior forces but had failed to achieve the desired result. He wondered if the battle with Konoha had gone smoothly.
Just then, Akino Atsumi appeared beside him, bringing Ishiro with her.
(End of Chapter)
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